October 8, 2010

The federal government recorded a budget deficit of just slightly less than $1.3 trillion in fiscal 2010 ... $125 billion less than the record high of $1.4 trillion set in fiscal 2009.

Considering the problems Bush left behind, this is a good start.

Posted by Dave Johnson at October 8, 2010 10:31 AM

Comments

OK, this post is just plain dumb. If it was this year's (2010) deficit then it was not Bush's deficit. The deficit is just how more much the government spent that yearthan it took in. Now, if you want to talk about the debt (which is the sum of past years deficits that haven't been paid off yet) then that is a different story.

Truth is, Obama has grown the yearly deficit and will continue to do so(see CBO numbers) every year for his four year term if he sticks to his stated plans.

Posted by: Scorpius at October 9, 2010 5:16 PM

The post is correct, Scorpius. The 2009 budget is the last one posted by the Bush Admin and it was in deficit by 1.4 trillion. During the Bush years the NATIONAL DEBT rose by 2 and 1/2 trillion and stood at 5.8 trillion when Obama was sworn in in Jan 2009.

Posted by: Lois Jennings at October 9, 2010 5:41 PM

Scorpius is correct. This is Obama's second budget, not his first. The 2009 budget may have been proposed by Bush, but it was approved by a Democratic Congress, and it was signed by Obama. If he didn't like what it did then he could very easily have refused to sign it and held out for something responsible. In any case, regardless of who is president, it's Congress that passes the budget, and Congress has been controlled by Democrats for 4 years now. I can't stand the Repubs, but there's simply no way that anyone can avoid holding the Democrats responsible for the current deficit and general economic collapse. Claiming otherwise at this ooint is just sad, and mind-bogglingly hypocritical.

Posted by: mikep at October 11, 2010 1:20 PM

"The 2009 budget may have been proposed by Bush, but it was approved by a Democratic Congress, and it was signed by Obama. "

Mikep is exactly correct. I remember the signing ceremony. The 2009 fiscal year was due to begin October 1, 2008, just a month before the election. Bush held a special ceremony at the White House and invited candidate Obama to come in and sign the budget, since he was clearly going to be elected.